Loren King

Give credit to writer-director James DeMonaco for at least attempting to give his action thriller some heft with a plot that concerns our obsession with violence, ham-fisted as it is. But The Purge: Anarchy is still just an excuse to bombard us with high-powered weaponry, armored vehicles, vigilantes, and masked marauders in creepy Joker-like makeup.

If this blend of community service, innovative teaching, and creative approach to design and construction sounds idealistic, the film’s final scenes deliver enough stress and sweat to show that idealism takes hard work, too.

No doubt a labor of love, the result is just plain laborious for the audience.

Though perhaps more suited to PBS or classrooms than to movie screens, the documentary is engrossing and just may encourage more people to look less to pharmacology for answers and more within.

It’s a surprisingly humorous and humane film — a lyrical little oddity that stands as a welcome return to form.

That the mushroom-dwelling blue creatures still manage to be endearing even in their second big-screen extravaganza (in 3-D, no less) is about the best that can be said of The Smurfs 2.

Winton’s inspiring story deserves greater attention but this film isn’t the best representation of it.

Hava Nagila (The Movie) guarantees that the next time you hear the song at a party, you won’t think of it quite the same way. Of course, that won’t slow anyone rushing to the dance floor.

Melding history, science, and up-to-the-minute urgency, A Fierce Green Fire is a clarion call that’s passionate and provocative.

Knoller manages to make even a withdrawn character compelling, and worth rooting for as Yossi struggles to shed his shell.

You don’t have to be Jewish to love borscht belt humor, or gay to love camp, or French to love farce. But when all three are thrown into a blender with a dollop of generic family dysfunction, as is the case in Let My People Go!, oy vey doesn’t begin to address the result.

It's better to see it on the stage... a moderately enjoyable film that lacks the awe-inspiring visual and aural aplomb of Montreal-based Cirque du Soleil's live shows.

Radnor's script is more bittersweet than laugh-out-loud funny.

Will your preschoolers enjoy it? Perhaps. Is it worth 88 minutes of their lives, or yours? Not in a world where "Sesame Street" is on TV every day. Not even in a world where "Sesame Street" didn't exist.

How does a filmmaker tell a Holocaust story that hasn't been told before? The Matchmaker does it by weaving fable with realism, coming-of-age innocence with adult grief, and guilt with romanticism.

Jonathan Gruber and Ari Daniel Pinchot have assembled a straightforward documentary that uses Yoni's own words - in the form of his moving, eloquent letters and poems - to create a searing portrait of his short but meaningful life.

The story is unique and engaging enough to transcend the uplifting sports-underdog formula.

In the end, what makes Inside Hana's Suitcase so powerful is the most traditional technique of all: authentic and eloquent storytelling by memorable characters.

Unfortunately, the potential for screwball comedy is wasted because L!fe Happens never finds its thematic tone or comedic rhythm.

Once it finds its footing in old-fashioned journalism, the film packs a wallop.

Miss Bala signals the rise of a director to watch, as Naranjo offers a grim subject with neither flash nor sentiment. It is a sober film done with style.

Larysa Kondracki's impressive debut achieves its aim to shine light on an international human rights issue as well as signaling a new director to watch.

Any originality in this new movie is overwhelmed by its lazy eagerness to embrace the new standard for R-rated comedy.

An innovative hybrid of documentary, staged reading, fictional feature, and confessional, The Arbor defies categorization not merely for art's sake - although its artistry is without question - but because conventional forms seem inadequate for such a harrowing story.

The film delivers a concise history of Western eating habits, with graphs and charts punctuated by entertaining real-life experiences.

As fascinating as the material is, like so much of popular culture it doesn't hold up well out of context.

Neither the comedy nor the romance is strong enough in Immigration Tango to offer any improvement on Peter Weir's similar, and better, 1990 film "Green Card."

Circo offers a fascinating mix of backstage drama and family dynamics.

With a plot devoid of suspense and characters without complexity, Rand's iconic line elicits merely a yawn, or a shrug.

Offers a surprising and revealing look at Russia's past and present.

An ambitious mix of politics, religion, art, and human drama.

For all its slickness, is an R-rated version of "Survivor," "Big Brother" or any number of reality-TV shows that present voyeurism as entertainment and exploitation as insight.

Despite the deftness with which Bigelow handles the transitions, the modern story never attains the intrigue and tension of the period tale.

Manages the right balance of fairy tale and joyous self-discovery. And the Venice locations don't hurt.

Boldly goes where Hollywood rarely treads: into the passionate, intense and complex world of girls at the point in their lives when self-discovery is tempered by enormous vulnerability.

A fine, handsome-looking costume drama that works best as a historical account of a brutal era. But as a portrait of the Marquis de Sade, it is not titillating in the over-the-top manner of "Quills."

The film doesn't have enough innovation or pizazz to attract teenagers, and it lacks the novel charm that made ''Spy Kids'' a surprising winner with both adults and younger audiences.

It is haunting in its literal and symbolic meanings, which is the powerful, lingering effect of Yellow Asphalt.

Solid, balanced period piece that focuses on a specific place and time yet resonates with universal themes.

A delightful alternative to most current multiplex fare, which wouldn't recognize a juicy bon mot if it tripped over one in the aisle.

Like its parade of predecessors, this Halloween is a gory slash-fest. It can't escape its past, and it doesn't want to.

Unambitious and transparent, but that doesn't mean it won't warm the hearts of audiences on both sides of the Atlantic.

With braces on her teeth and preteen gawkiness, Eliza's a nerdy girl on the surface, but her backbone and chutzpah manage to save human and animal family alike. Move over Bond; this girl deserves a sequel.

Despite some imaginative fatalities, is less a movie than a slick video game.

The storytelling is episodic, and the film takes a little while to get going, but it hits its stride.

A searing documentary with an agenda.

Wolpert and Reynolds seem to be aiming for the ''Titantic'' audience at the expense of sophistication and historical relevance. It's too bad. The able cast, not to mention Alexandre Dumas, deserves better.

But as likable as it is, Tadpole is hardly a maturing woman's revenge movie, but another male fantasy -- that of the sexually nurturing mother figure. If only all coming-of-age sexual experiences could be as healthy and wholesome.

Time of Favor, which boasts a haunting score, is an unflinching, complex portrait of a modern Israel that is rarely seen on-screen.

A powerhouse of a film about modern journalism and war, with battle scenes that have the immediacy and impact of the famed opening sequence of "Saving Private Ryan."

This bizarre, uneven comedy is notable mostly for the unsettling presence of Nicole Kidman in full, kinky, sex-kitten mode.

Reliable, standard Disney animated fare, with enough creative energy and wit to entertain all ages.

Affecting, troubling, dazzling film.

The situations and jokes are as predictable and as lowbrow as the endless pratfalls the boys take in their high heels.

Doesn't aim for more than padding a plot around Kennedy so he can do his Brad "B-Rad" Gluckman character full-force. And the joke soon wears thin.

Exquisitely captures the irony and hopefulness of the era.

A handsome but lightweight period piece about passions indulged and repressed, and the calamitous outcomes that result from both courses.

The British intelligence operation at Bletchley Park that cracked the Enigma code is truly the stuff of great drama. But that story doesn't offer Matt LeBlanc in a wig and heels.

It is an uncompromising family tale, one that's dark but lyrical and moving in its rendering of the ties that bind even the most dysfunctional families, despite valiant efforts to destroy them.

Plenty of dramatic action, stunning imagery and an operatic score add weight to Escaflowne. It may not appeal to fans of traditional animation.

Delivers a surprising, moving portrait of contemporary womanhood.

One of the most searing, heartbreaking and ultimately triumphant mother/daughter stories ever put on film.

Reynolds is the best thing about Van Wilder.

The Eye is a feast to behold, but it lacks substance and will leave most viewers wholly unsatisfied.

It is awkward and dull, a capital crime for an aspiring noir.

A luminous love letter to the Banco Chinchorro, the largest coral reef off Mexico's coast, and to the tender bonds between a father and son.

Surprising less moldy and trite than the last two.

Throws its obvious predecessor, "Waiting to Exhale," into relief, making that 1995 syrupy revenge fantasy look positively Shakespearean next to the moronic Two Can Play That Game.

An ebullient toast to grande dames: part homage, part camp, all artifice and a thoroughly entertaining, if light, confection.

The intriguing subject, unfortunately, collapses under too many talky scenes of the samurai discussing their feelings and gossiping about who loves whom.

Laurel Canyon itself feels musical: languid, rich in color and light, and deliciously sensual.

Unimaginatively recycles all the teens-in-the-woods gorefest conventions.

Toback's films deliver a lot of bang for the buck. He's one of the few serious and original directors who can mix group sex and talk of existentialism; a fast-paced basketball sequence cut with scenes of Mafia members plotting a hit; and an in-class philosophy lecture stylishly edited with Alan's memories of a contradictory in-bed discussion.

Predictable and dull.

Succeeds as a paean to movies and movie-watching.

MacDowell offers an engaging portrait of a complex woman who has survived life's slings and arrows. It makes Crush an affecting take on modern women.

Small, sharply written, incisive comedy examines, with smarts and style and sexiness, the very nature of modern romance - gay, straight, and in between.

Despite its many charms, the title of the film -- both complaint and boast -- makes clear whose point of view this is. Gainsbourg is delightful, intelligent and sexy, but this isn't her film.

Schlock that could and should have been better.

Resonates with intelligence and a poignancy made more sorrowful by what happened to all of us, but especially to New Yorkers, on that terrible day.

Manages to wring some originality out of its fairy-tale plot. This freshness compensates for the expected hackneyed qualities in this Cinderella tale.

The rigidity of most of the rabbis interviewed in the film is balanced by the presence of openly gay Orthodox Rabbi Steve Greenberg, who offers a more liberal, but no less scholarly, interpretation of the Torah.

Any film about the folk tradition is required to have a stellar soundtrack, and Songcatcher does not disappoint.

As a bonus, "Liquid" also includes eye-popping footage of the top surfers in the world (Taj Burrow, Laird Hamilton, Dave Kalama) -- wave riders who make the impossible look easy.

Disappointingly hollow.

Magically transports the viewer across time and space. As it does so, it becomes a humbling reminder of the universality of the human experience.

Deftly uses the conventions of the urban buddy/ romance film to create a fast and loose, often humorous, atmosphere.

Star Pilar Lopez de Ayala is such a feisty, striking presence, and the film so conventional in its depiction of a jealous and insatiable love, that it is hard to see Juana as anything other than a typical soap opera heroine.

An unpredictable, mythic tale about haunted outcasts that is both dazzling and disquieting.

A searing reminder of the relevance of recent history and of the timeless power of fiction to humanize people and crystallize sweeping events into personal drama.

Lesnick seems to be saying that lesbian characters on screen can also meet cute significant others, spar in a lite Woody Allen fashion, and have a happy, sappy Hollywood ending. But a sitcom is still a sitcom -- gay, Greek or otherwise.

The heartfelt truthfulness of Gardos' tale, and the performances of all leads, particularly Johansson, make the film a powerful account of the universal search for identity and the meaning of "home."

Meadows clearly has a flair for working with actors and for depicting the rough-and-tumble of ordinary provincial lives. If he could go just a bit deeper, the truly great Midlands movie just might surface.

A video game cum movie that substitutes shrieking decibel levels for a coherent plot and any resemblance to originality.

Many of the story lines offer only superficial insight into the characters; Silver's rich but unhappy mogul has been done far too many times.

Likable comedy about ordinary people stumbling badly and then triumphing.

A welcome family film that extols noble values and offers first-class animation.

There's nothing original about the father-son conflict that forms the core of the film, nor is there enough suspense and drama.

The movie moves predictably to its feel-good finale.

Mesmerizing and unforgettable.

An adequate horror movie for the Halloween season, but it too easily sinks into haunted-house-film conventions, even if the haunted house is decked out as an Italian luxury liner.

A welcome respite from verbal nastiness and sexual cynicism. It's nice to see characters who enjoy falling in love, even if it's to a schmaltzy light-soul score.

It's a refreshing theme for a kids' movie, one that incorporates history and urban flavor, not to mention a preservationists' perspective, into the usual mix.

With its welcome lessons on friendship and self-esteem, is not only appropriate for preschoolers, but it also has enough sophistication for older kids.

It makes the viewer wonder whether Circuit would have been stronger as a documentary instead of the well-intentioned, overlong, intermittently entertaining but flawed feature that it is.

Mix of stylish action and meta-musings, provides plenty of confusing, satisfying surprises, though it could have used more tightness and punch.

The script boasts some tart TV-insider humor, but the film has not a trace of humanity or empathy.

Cleverly mocks the modern chronicler, raising questions that linger long after the film is finished.

Mixes ''Jetsons''-style futuristic hijinks with a reliable story of a boy inadvertently whisked ''over the rainbow'' to another galaxy where his mettle is tested.

Hits the ground running and never lets up.

Despite its charms, and the refreshingly non-traditional characters, Lilo & Stitch seems diluted and too derivative to be as effective as one wants it to be.

Packaged fluff aimed low, and patronizingly, at Spears's legion of young female fans.

Offers something rare for a modern movie: an uncynical depiction of the redemptive power of human relationships.

Doesn't win any points for originality. It does succeed by following a feel-good formula with a winning style, and by offering its target audience of urban kids some welcome role models and optimism.

It wisely lets us hear Pinero's words for ourselves, and in the end, they echo louder than the images that accompany them.

Snappy but sappy romantic comedy.

One can hardly argue with the desire to make a wholesome movie for families that extols honesty and decency, but it all comes too easily, too superficially.

The film's crude humor and violence -- cartoonish, but still violent -- should offend parents of younger kids. Yet its ultra-broad, pratfall-filled comedy will satisfy only the most indiscriminate teens.

It puts The Cockettes into social, political and popular cultural context and gives the documentary a moving resonance.

A rarity among modern movies: a coming-of-age tale without cliche or sentimentality. Bolstered by a luminous lead performance from Lauren Ambrose.

Griffin may well get there, but he's not there yet.

Tawdry, trashy yawn-fest that makes the viewer long for the days when bad girls were dangerous dames with sultry style.

An uneven mix of genres that, even when it misses the mark, gets points for originality and a good beat.

One of the most clever, most enjoyable historical fantasies to hit screens in a long time, The Emperor's New Clothes is a sumptuous showcase for Ian Holm, who delivers not one but two great performances.

Despite its shortcomings, Girls Can't Swim represents an engaging and intimate first feature by a talented director to watch, and it's a worthy entry in the French coming-of-age genre.

It's a raw and raucous rock story that, for once, gets the big picture and the small details right.

It's the pre-teen set who will revel in the adolescent angst and anarchic high jinks of Max Keeble.